The unseen battle is primarily waged through the proclamation of the gospel to the nations.
Joel Muddamalle, The Unseen Battle, p. 83
The unseen battle is primarily waged through the proclamation of the gospel to the nations.
Joel Muddamalle, The Unseen Battle, p. 83
Out of Babel Books 
Um, I’ve got a history book called The Night Battles, which is about the benandanti, peasants who believed they left their bodies at night to fight witches for Christ — until the Inquisition “convinced” them they were witches themselves!
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Oh interesting!
There was a lot going on with the Inquisition. It came in the aftermath of the Reconquista (a literal physical battle), and it also overlapped with the Protestant Reformation, which IMO was part of the process of converting the nations, though predictably it also led to wars.
What do you think was going on with those peasants? I tend to give credit to ppl’s claims of paranormal experiences unless I have a good reason not to, but I know that’s not the instinct of most folks nowadays.
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This is going back to my college days so I can’t say much (although I’ve kept the book out all these years since for a re-read some time). But I believe they were people born with a caul, which they interpreted as giving them special abilities to fight the powers of darkness. This wasn’t an idea the Church could quite get their minds around however — paranormal fighters for Christ — so they eventually decided they were actually working for Satan. And they could be very persuasive! The full title is The Night Battles: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. So it was all about securing the harvest and such.
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Curiouser and curiouser, thanks!
I do know that in the Middle Ages, there was a lot more what we would call paranormal and superstitious stuff. People were Christianized, but they were still coming from a fundamentally pagan worldview. And, I would argue, the powers held on a long time and would push back hard when they sensed they were losing a region.
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